Most people working with sales funnel are pretty familiar with the concept called AIDA, but did you know that the Value Ladder is an option as well.

You know as well as me, that getting started with sales funnels is the easy part.

You simply pick a good platform, and start playing around with it.

It won’t take you many hours to build something that looks like a decent sales funnel.

However, picking the right funnel model for your business can be trickier.

If fact, some of you might be stuck in one model without even knowing that there is an alternative available.

And this is not your fault, so many people on the interwebb talk about AIDA that any other model falls in it’s shadow.

So, how do you choose between AIDA and the Value Ladder? Well, that’s where this guide comes into play.

Are All Sales Funnels Perfect?

Since most business have a sales funnel, you’d think that all of them are coverting like crazy…

However, this is not always the case since many of these funnel are what you would call a “happened by accident” kind of sales funnel.

This means that a big portion of entrepreneurs using funnels just stumbled upon a concept that worked and continued using it.

Sure, the “do more of what works” can for the most part be a great rule of thumb…

But for the most part you need to be more serious than that if you want to create a sales funnel that converts exceptionally well.

And how do you build a funnel that outperforms the average?

Well, pretty much by knowing what you’re doing.

So let’s take a look at the two most popular sales funnel models available to date:

• The AIDA model
• The Value Ladder model

Knowing which model works best for you business is kind of crucial for your success…

So, don’t skip ahead because this is important.

The Traditional Sales Funnel Model

The sales funnel model called AIDA is a marketing method that dates back to the late 19th century.

So it’s been around for a while to say the least.

It’s based around four stages and here’s how it work:

• Awareness. You catch the attention of the potential customer.
• Interest. You spike their interest.
• Desire. You show them how your product will make their lives better.
• Action. You ask them to buy the product.

Pretty simple if you ask me.

Hence why the AIDA method has been around for over a century:

Because it works!

However, I would argue and say that this method has evolved form its original four stages and now has six.

That’s why I’ve written a whole article on just that, covering exactly what the sales funnel stages are. So if that’s something you want to now more about, I got you covered.

That being said, if you’re struggling to get any success using the funnel stages alone, maybe you should try and incorporate (or even switch to) the Value Ladder model.

The Value Ladder Model

The Value Ladder is a much newer model compared to AIDA. It’s a concept that (from what I could figure out) was first introduced by Russell Brunson (founder of ClickFunnels).

This is the model he used to grow ClickFunnels from $0 to $100M+ in annual revenue in just a few years.

So it can pack quiet a punch if executed correctly.

If you’re not familiar with the Value Ladder as a concept, here’s how it works:

• Bait: You offer the visitor a lead magnet in exchange for their email address.
• Frontend: You offer the prospect your least expensive and least valuable product.
• Middle: You offer the customer a more expensive and a more valuable product.
• Backend: You offer the customer your most expensive and most valuable product.
• High Ticket: This is where you offer your summits or private training products and services. This top step is not always applicable for everyone, since it requires a very expensive product.

But why try this “Value Ladder” model anyway?

Why not just stick with the AIDA model, and wait for something good to happen.

Because this newer model allows you to:

• Start the relationship with the prospect by providing free value.
• Nurture that relationship by continuing to provide free value.
• Build trust by providing progressively more paid value at each stage.

With that said…

How does the Value Ladder do compared to the AIDA model?

The Value Ladder Vs AIDA

The biggest difference between the Value Ladder and the AIDA model is this:

• The Value Ladder is build upon a give-and-take dynamic. Where you begin the relationship with a new lead by providing free value, then start trading value instead of just continuing to give.
• AIDA on the other hand is more about giving, giving, and giving some more. Only after all the giving you ask the prospect to buy your product or service.

As you can see the biggest difference here is that one of these is based on how human relationships actually works.

Can you guess which one? (Hint, it’s the Value Ladder).

This also means that the Value Ladder sticks to a principle called “Commitment and Consistency”, which is a concept commonly used in the “Foot in the Door” technique.

This technique states that:

“You get the potential customer to commit to something, then use that small initial commitment to escalate to more extensive commitments.”

But to give you a better understanding of this, here’s an example:

If a guy walked up to you on a Monday morning and said ” Hey! I’m Mr. Nobody. If you give me a million dollars, I’ll build you a business for you”.

You’d probably politely tell the man that you’re not interested.

I even bet that you’d think this man was an insane lunatic for going around asking people for millions of dollars.

What if he did this instead…

What if he instead of asking for a million dollars, offered you a super valuable lead magnet first (for free).

I’d bet you’d probably take it. (I mean why not, it’s free).

And then maybe you’d try out his business software, buy his book and check out his courses…

Then, if you’d ever end up in a situation where you need to pay someone a million dollars to build you a business, Mr. Nobody would be the first person that would pop up in your head.

With this approach, you have a bigger chance of closing your more expensive offers compared to if you’d offered them on the frontend of your funnel.

So, while this might seem lika a much more complicated way for you to sell stuff, it’s actually a more natural and effective method than the ADIA.

Why?

Because it allows you to start by asking the prospect to do a micro-commitment in the beginning. Then, you encourage the customer to take bigger and bigger commitments over time.

Sure, only a fraction of those who downloaded your lead magnet will end up buying your most expensive offer.

Compare that to if you were trying to shove a $10K course in the face of a new page visitor. You probably won’t sell as much because the price tag is daunting.

But if you ease into it, then you have a much bigger chance of selling a few of those courses.

And that is good for the health of your bank account.

In short:

If you’re struggling with conversion rates in your sales funnel using the AIDA model…

Try implementing the Value Ladder sales funnel model.

Conclusion

There you have it, the similarities and differences between the AIDA and the Value Ladder model.

Now you know that there is more than one sales funnel model out there to choose from.

So if you feel like you are stuck or struggling with conversions using one of them, try the other one.

Or if you want to hang with the cool kids, why not combine both models.

In the end, use the model that works best for your business.

Because don’t get me wrong here, both of theses models are powerful, and people have seen massive success using either one.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

What model are you using with your sales funnel?

Or maybe you didn’t know there was more than one alternative?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below.